1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an amusement device and methods of its use which provide visual skill exercise and training as well as hand-eye coordination exercise and training. In particular, the present invention relates to amusement devices of the general type in which an elongated rod is manipulated, tossed and/or juggled with the aid of two hand-held wands. The device may be used by one person or two or more persons, each holding a pair of wands.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known in the prior art to juggle a rod with the use of a pair of hand-held wands. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,030 (Randon) discloses a lightweight tube which can be juggled by means of similar tubes (i.e., wands) having a relatively high-friction cushioning cover. The high-friction covers permit the juggled tube to be readily caught and grasped anywhere along the length of the juggled tube and also reduce the tendency of the juggled tube to bounce when caught in a horizontal orientation. While a device of this type permits development of one's juggling skill, the uniformity and symmetry of the juggled tube results in a readily predictable uniform trajectory when the tube is tossed and twirled, thereby limiting the variety of available juggling routines. As a consequence, the scope of exercises and hand-eye training routines available to the user is quite limited. Further, since the juggled tube is visibly uniform and can be caught at any point along its length, a user of the device can not visibly distinguish particular points along the length of the tube as it is being twirled in the air. The ability to so distinguish is important in certain aspects of hand-eye coordination, training and exercise as described herein.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,364,137 (Gibb) there is disclosed a rod having a frusto-conical enlargement projecting radially therefrom at a location intermediate the rod midpoint and one of the rod ends. The surface of the enlargement is made of relatively high-friction material to enable it to be controllably struck by individual hand-held sticks so as to maintain the rod in flight by batting it with a series of impacting strikes on the enlargement. The off-center location of the enlarged projection causes the in-flight rod to have a rocking type trajectory to which a user may adapt; however, the fixed longitudinal position of the projection limits such trajectory to a single type to which a user may readily adapt over time. The non-uniformity of the rod contour provided by this enlarged projection permits a user to focus on, and attempt to strike, that projection when the rod is in flight and thereby exercise his/her hand-eye coordination. However, the fixed location of the projection limits the extent of such exercise. In addition, the Gibb patent describes only a mode of use whereby the rod is struck to maintain it in flight, and does not suggest that the rod may be juggled (i.e., grasped, tossed/twirled and caught in repetitive cycles). It is juggling, not striking, to which the method aspects of the present invention are directed so as to improve hand-eye coordination for reasons described herein below.
A twirlable amusement device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,659 (Benham) includes a shaft having two cup-like members disposed at its opposite ends with their open ends facing one another. A single hand-held stick is used to twirl the rod in a vertical plane by imparting appropriate rotational force to the rod at the juncture of the rod and one of the end cups. Although use of the device in this manner develops some degree of dexterity in the user, the trajectory of the twirled rod is always the same because of its end-to-end uniformity between the end cups. Moreover, since the end cups are substantially identical, it is impossible for a user to focus on a specific end cup while the rod is in twirling flight so as to attempt to catch the twirling rod by that specific end cup.
Other prior art twirlable or juggled devices of general interest may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,106,039 (Simpson), 1,285,642 (Restein); and 2,167,992 (Olsen).
I am aware of a prior art device in which a juggled rod has two spherical members secured to its opposite ends. The rod has a smooth low-friction surface and is juggled by means of two hand-held wands of smooth-low-friction material. The rod can be supported in a horizontal orientation by permitting it to rest on the two wands. Alternatively, the rod can be caught and grasped in a vertical orientation between the two wands at the juncture of the rod and either end ball. In this device the center of gravity of the rod is fixed at its longitudinal center so that the twirling trajectory is always uniform and the same. Moreover, since the end balls are visibly identical, the user can not readily focus on one of the balls while the rod is twirling so as to attempt to catch the rod adjacent that ball.